


It Isn't as Bad as You Think

by alixabethmay



Series: The M'Cartin-Eitreim System [1]
Category: Castle
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Apparent suicide, F/M, Gangs, Gen, Multi, Organized Crime, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Pre-Season/Series 07, Suicide, TW: Suicide, TW: Violence, Unorganized Crime, Wish me luck, bit of both crimes, this is gonna be a long one, tw: death, yay!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-22 08:26:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2501174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alixabethmay/pseuds/alixabethmay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On September 16th in the Hamptons, Beckett and Castle see a well-to-do, happy young woman shoot a man through the head and then kill herself. When they look into the baffling case, they're thrown knee-deep into a world they never bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My One Heart Hurt Another

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam/gifts).



> /!\ WARNING WARNING /!\  
> TRIGGER WARNINGS: APPARENT SUICIDES, UNDERAGE DEATHS, AND LOADS OF UNETHICAL-NESS  
> /!\ WARNING WARNING /!\

Kate Beckett didn't even recognise the coast here. It was infinitely nicer out in the private, secluded Hamptons, whereas the East River must have been a beautiful place to swim- a few hundred years ago. "Castle, why didn't we come here sooner?" she asked for what was probably the millionth time, bending to scoop up a sand dollar. "It's more fun when the weather's getting colder. Then you get those cool storm clouds." Castle pointed towards the sea. A bank of thick grey clouds had formed over the waves that crashed to shore and piled around Beckett's feet. She stopped for a moment and stared at them. Then there was a familiar  _bang_ and Beckett's hand automatically flew to where her gun should be. "Castle, get down!"

"What the hell was that? Ew, this sand tastes awful." Castle spit out a mouthful.

"It was a gun, Castle! Ugh, why  _do_ you have that much sand in your mouth?"

"A gun?" Castle started laughing. "Kate, that was a screen door!"

"How do you know?" Beckett asked, still wary.

"Because that's the noise ours makes! Come on." Castle stood up and offered her a hand. "Are you sure?" Beckett asked as she accepted it. "Yes, I'm sure." Beckett accepted his hand and stood up, brushing sand off of herself. "Now I feel stupid," she mumbled. Castle frowned at her. "Don't. It was a natural reaction that you evolved with good reason. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Thanks, Castle."

"Don't mention it. Now, how about we get some ice cream?"

"Castle, it's the beginning of September, not the middle of July."

"And?"

Kate sighed and shook her head in mock disbelief. "Well, come on, then. It's starting to sprinkle anyway."

"Woohoo! Ice cream!"

"You child."

* * *

As they trudged back up the dunes, Beckett saw a man and a woman sitting in front of a house. "Castle, that's the couple we saw earlier, the ones on their honeymoon, right?" she asked, pointing at them. "Yep, that would be them. Wonder what they're doing outside when it's about to rain?"

As they drew closer, Beckett saw the woman take a deep breath. Then she pulled out a gun and shot her new husband in the back of the head. Both Beckett and Castle stumbled back in shock as the woman pressed the gun to her temple. This jarred Beckett back to her senses, but not soon enough. "No, wait, don't-!" The woman pulled the trigger before Beckett had stopped talking.

* * *

 

"I don't- understand. They were so happy together."

"We had only walked by them a few minutes ago..."

"She never seemed the type to shoot her husband."

Beckett only caught snippets of peoples' conversations as she ran back to the house. "Katherine!" Beckett turned to see two shocks of red hair coming towards her. "Martha, Alexis, I- I don't even know- Castle's over there, talking to the police, but I don't understand- she, she just..." Beckett blinked, trying to replay the incident in her mind. "They were married..."

"Beckett, are you okay?" Alexis asked.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." Beckett blinked hard and shook her head. "Just a bit shocked, is all. Let's go find Castle and then call Ryan and Esposito."

"Don't have to." Esposito stood at her elbow, already scribbling on a notepad. "Ryan's over there, talking with the vic's neighbors."

"Right, thanks Espo. Lanie, any drugs in her system?"

"Not as far as I can see. Oh, hey Beckett. That's right, you and Castle were here on vacation."

"Yeah, well, some vacation it is now. What all do we got?"

Lanie looked at Beckett funny. "You tell me. You were one of two witnesses!"

"Yeah, yeah- speaking of that, where's Castle?" Beckett asked, looking around.

"Over there." Lanie pointed with her pen. "One thing's for sure, Kate: Vacation's over."

 

 

 


	2. Only One Life Won't Be Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Captain Gates frowns, Kevin pauses, and Beckett's phone rings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even gonna structure this properly. In fact, expect like three chapters in one day and none for the next week.

"Why the hell would they do something like that? They had just gotten married-" The woman burst into tears before she could finish speaking. "Mrs. Fleetwood, I know this is challenging. Did your daughter have any enemies?" Beckett asked gently. "No, no, everybody loved America! And America loved Jonathan!" the woman protested vehemently. The woman's husband patted her on the shoulder. "America was pretty independent. She might have offended someone if they took it the wrong way. But she would never kill herself, and definitely never Jonathan," he explained quietly. Castle nodded sympathetically. "I suppose that answers the next question for us, but were there any new stresses on Mrs. Harlowe?" he asked.

Mrs. Fleetwood sniffled into a tissue. "Other than being married, you mean? She had just started a new job."

Beckett leaned forward. "Where at?"

* * *

"West Baden? That's a resort in the middle of Indiana farmland," Castle remarked.

"I called; they said she was a guest services agent. She'd just gotten hired three weeks ago," Ryan reported.

"How the hell could a guest services agent getting paid $12 an hour afford a house in the Hamptons?" Beckett wondered aloud.

"That's because the husband was loaded," Esposito announced, walking up behind Ryan. "Jonathan Harlowe, heir to Biggerson's Restaurants and Diners. His mom was killed in a car accident and Dad kicked it off from a heart attack a few years ago. Since then, he's got all the money and has been travelling the world with it."

"So if she'd wanted the money, she would have shot her husband and made it look like an accident," Beckett mused. Ryan shot her a funny look. "I think you're around too many murderers. You're starting to think like one."

* * *

"So, in conclusion, all we can do is just chalk it up to a suicide, Sir," Beckett finished. The room was silent for a moment. "Then why did she shoot her husband?" Captain Gates asked. Beckett shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine." Captain Gates didn't look at all satisfied with that answer. She frowned and just stood there for a moment or two. "This isn't the last we'll hear of this," she predicted, pursing her lips. "I'm sorry, Sir, but there weren't any leads to follow-" Beckett started.

"I wasn't criticising you, Detective. I was stating a fact. This will come back to bite us in the ass."

* * *

 

"Really, Sir, all it looks to be is a suicide," Beckett reported. Captain Gates frowned. "It wasn't though, was it?" Beckett looked taken aback for a moment. "Uh, I guess-"

"The NYPD is not paying you for guesses, Detective. What do you  _think?_ "

Beckett paused for a moment to consider her words. "I think... this is like the last one. The double suicide from three weeks ago, in the Hamptons."

"How could suicides be connected, Detective?"

"I don't know, Sir. I mean, both of the involved parties are dead. That's about it." Beckett sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Captain Gates looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "Alright, then. You can go."

"Thank you, Sir." And still, as Beckett excused herself, she got the feeling that this wasn't over just yet.

* * *

"Three double suicides in the past month. This is getting out of hand," Beckett murmured, looking over the paper that Lanie had sent for her. Castle was staring over her shoulder at it, as well. Single GSW to the chest, the killer knew exactly where to aim. But the killer was dead, too... "This is unbelievable. This would all be a perfect coincidence if it had happened over a spread of a year, not a month," Beckett said disdainfully. "But here's some good news," Ryan called, walking towards Beckett with a small stack of papers that had been binder-clipped together. "We got the will of Jonathan Harlowe. That warrant finally worked out."

"Great. Who's the money go to?"

"The nurse."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me right." Ryan dropped into his chair. "The nurse got everything."

"Good, we've got a suspect. Did she know America?"

Ryan paused. "Problem: no. They'd never met. The nurse took care of Harlowe's father in his final days, that's about it. Good reason to leave money to them, but she couldn't have convinced America to kill him."

"Or herself," Castle added.

* * *

"Yes, Martha, the _cordon bleu_ was amazing. I would care for some _c_ _rème brûlée_ , though." Martha smiled and _hmm_ ed at Beckett and bustled off into the kitchen. "Now look what you've done. She's going to make me eat more," Castle murmured into Beckett's ear. She laughed and heard her phone ring. "Excuse me."

"Beckett."

"You need to be careful, _m_ _ädchen._ "

"Who is this?"

"Calm down, it's a friend. Those double suicides aren't suicides. Come to Whitefell Road in the East End at 12.01 tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Because by then, there'll be another one."

 

 

 

 


	3. In A World With Everything But It Won't Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Beckett wiggles irritably, Castle throws his weight at an inanimate object, and Lanie grunts.

"Excuse me?"

"Another double suicide. Except the dead one will be a woman and a man. When your M.E. runs it, the woman will have shot the man, then herself. That man will have brown hair and hazel eyes. His name will be William Karmer."

"How do you know this?"

"I'm William Karmer. My wife is out of town to go to Atlantic City, but she told her coworkers that she was going to see her dying mother in Hoboken. We have two children. My last words to my oldest daughter were 'Keep the box.' I was born on Monday, August 4th, 1979. Feel free to check."

"I- I will. Whitefell Road in the East End?"

"Yes. Fourth floor, ninth room on the left. Don't be late. Don't be early."

Irritation spiked in Beckett. "Look, I've already agreed to drag myself out of bed at an obscene hour just to meet-"

"If you're late, you'll let the killer get away and die elsewhere. If you're early, you'll die along with me."

"Fine. 12.01 it is."

* * *

 _11.48. 11.53. 11.55. 11.56._ Beckett wiggled impatiently in the car. "Why'd you drag me out here again?" Castle asked, stifling a yawn. "I already told you. A guy named William Karmer is going to die," Beckett explained, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. Castle straightened and frowned disapprovingly. "Then why the hell are we sitting out here?" Beckett turned to look at Castle, feeling wrong-footed. "Uh, the guy said I would die if I went in before 12.01-"

"So did the guy who blew up your house! Seriously, why are we just sitting here?"

"Okay, okay, jeez. Let's go," Beckett muttered, grabbing her gun from the car door pocket.

"Let's hurry, too. It's 11.58."

"Yes, let's hurry to our impending death. If we get shot, I'm killing you."

* * *

The apartment building elevator dinged pleasantly at each floor. Level 2. 3. 4. "Here."

Beckett led the way out of the elevator, gun drawn.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, here! Ninth room on the left." Beckett rapped on the door. "Mr. Karmer? It's Beckett." The door swung open and thunked on the chain lock. A middle-aged man with dark brown hair and greenish eyes stared out.

"What the hell were you thinking? I told you, twelve o'-" The man collapsed against the door without warning. "Mr. Karmer-! I didn't even hear a- quick, help me get the door open!" Beckett yelled. Castle promptly threw his weight at the door. The chain lock broke away at its link to the door. William Karmer spilled out into the hallway. Metal gleamed in his neck. "A knife. Freeze!" Beckett whirled back to face the room and saw the silhouette of a girl bite down on a necklace. "Stop!" The girl twitched once and fell where she stood. "Shit. Castle, you okay?"

"You never let me into the room," Castle whined. "How could I not be?"

Beckett blew her hair out of her face, then glanced at her watch. "It's 12.01." She looked back at the girl. "Was that cyanide?" she asked, bending over the girl's limp body.

"No, cyanide symptoms don't look like that. Let's get out of here," Castle suggested, looking both ways down the hall. "Like, before the cops  _officially_ get here."

* * *

"William Karmer, 35. A knife to the back around midnight this morning. Door's been kicked in, all the windows are open."

"Thanks, Espo." Beckett walked over with Castle to look at Karmer's body. "Morning, you two," Lanie greeted. "The knife wedged itself between vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. Looks like he died from asphyxiation a few minutes later," Lanie reported. Beckett tried her best to look surprised.  _Do I look too shocked? Do I look like I'm faking it? Can Lanie tell?_ "What about the girl?" she asked, trying to turn her attention to something less worrying.

"Now that's where it got interesting. The girl bit down on this-" Lanie held up a broken charm attached to a snapped necklace chain, "and by the looks of it, she just dropped dead seconds afterwards."

"From what?"

"That's why I said she dropped dead. I have no idea why."

"Could she have died from anything else?"

"No bullet holes, no burnt areas, no stab wounds, not suffocated. I got nothing, but we'll see what I can do back at the morgue."

"Great." Beckett stood and turned. "Ryan, did the neighbors hear a disturbance, like the door being kicked in?"

"No, but they did hear shouting at exactly midnight last night. A minute later, things had quieted down, though."  _Imagine that._ "Thanks, Ryan."

"No problem. But Gates is  _not_ gonna be happy," Ryan remarked almost too cheerfully.

"What, why?'

"Uh, it's the fourth double suicide this month."

Lanie's voice startled them both, making Ryan jump. "Except this one- _urg_ _h-_ left a calling card."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmkay, spots of possible medical confusion.  
> MEDICAL ANALYSIS TIME.  
> Severing the spinal cord does not cause instant death. However, excessive damage to the brain stem (e.g., from a hangman's fracture) can cause instant death due to destruction of the reticular activating system and various other control centers. That is NOT what happened in that chapter. The knife hit him in the neck. Severing the cord below the level of the brain stem, but above or in the origin of the phrenic nerve (C3, C4, C5) causes death several minutes later due to asphyxiation. As you probably gathered from the unbelievable specificity of that description, this was not a random killing.  
> ABOUT CYANIDE AND WHY I DIDN'T USE IT  
> The type of cyanide you're probably familiar with is the kind that people put in pills to commit suicide. If you are poisoned with straight-up cyanide, you get Tachycardia (your heart starts beating WAY too fast) because of advanced lactic acidosis, aka a build-up of lactic acid from lack of oxygen. (Lactic acid is the stuff that causes that godawful achy feeling in your legs after you run for too long.) This causes cardiac dysrhythmia, which can kill you.  
> THAT IS NOT THE POISON THAT IS FOUND IN SUICIDE PILLS.  
> The stuff found in those is potassium cyanide or (less commonly) sodium cyanide. That little monster is a hell of a lot more effective. The effects of potassium and sodium cyanide are identical. The person loses consciousness, and death eventually follows over a period of time that entirely depends on dosage. During this period, convulsions may occur. Foaming at the mouth can as well. Death usually occurs by hypoxia (loss of oxygen) of neural (brain and nervous system) tissue. The reason you start foaming at the mouth is because your lungs are desperately trying to get air in before they shut down entirely. The lethal dose for potassium cyanide is 200–300 mg, but can vary. The toxicity and lethality of potassium cyanide when ingested depends on the acidity of the stomach, because it must react with an acid to become hydrogen cyanide, the true deadly form of cyanide. Grigori Rasputin only survived being poisoned with this crap because he had a really low amount of stomach acids. (Yay, you survived poisoning! Aww, you can only eat soft foods.)  
> YOU ARE A (LITTLE SHORT FOR A STORM) TROOPER.  
> Thank you for making it through my detailed medical analysis and please, feel free to correct in comments!
> 
> -Alix


End file.
